Close Encounters With Music presents

WEST SIDE 5

June 13, 2021

5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

The 5:00 PM concert is now sold out. 

The Mount will host two 1-hour long performances at 5:00 PM & 7:00 PM.

West Side 5, the award-winning New York-based vocal jazz ensemble, bring their innovative take on jazz standards to The Mount. WS5 has created its own unique sound, characterized by original arrangements, complex harmonies, and outstanding musicianship.

The event will take place at the main house, with the musicians performing from the Terrace. We have a limited number of lawn chairs available to borrow. Please plan to bring lawn chairs or blankets if able.

Not a member? Contact Allison at 413-551-5112 to find out why Members Make the Difference.

The Mount is a Massachusetts Cultural Council UP designated organization welcoming participants of all disabilities. Please contact The Mount at 413-551-5100 or by email, info@edithwharton.org, to discuss accommodations needed to participate fully in this event.

Thanks to our joint sponsors:

  • $20 members, $25 non-members
  • Advance registration required; no walk-ins allowed for COVID safety.
  • No outside food or alcoholic beverages are permitted. Our Terrace café is open and serving an assortment of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks.
Soprano, Aubrey Johnson

Aubrey is a New York-based vocalist, composer, and educator who specializes in jazz, Brazilian, and creative contemporary music with and without words. She has held faculty positions at Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory, and currently teaches at Queens College and Montclair State University. In demand as both a side-person and a leader, Aubrey has performed and/or recorded with Bobby McFerrin, Janis Siegel (of the Manhattan Transfer), Lauren Kihnan (of the New York Voices), John Patitucci, Lyle Mays, Steve Rodby, Mark Walker, Paul McCandless, and many others.

Alto, Katie Seiler

Katie is a New Hampshire native who attended Western Michigan University for a Bachelors in Jazz Voice, and New England Conservatory for a Masters in Jazz Voice. Katie is a performer, voice teacher, and certified Alexander Technique teacher. In the past Katie has opened for Becca Stevens Band, been a background singer on the Oprah show, and has performed with Donny McCaslin, and Clark Terry amongst others. Katie currently performs her own music, and sings on other musicians’ projects in styles ranging, choral, folk, jazz, and new music. Currently, when she’s not performing, she’s teaching private voice lessons for community music schools in the New York City area, teaching the Alexander Technique through her own studio, or serving as a guest adjudicator, clinician, and performer.

Tenor, Tomás Cruz

A regular in New York’s avant-garde performance scene, Tomás is known for his “… sweet tenor (All About Jazz, 2018),” and “… mellifluous, pure tone (New York Classical Review, 2015)…,” as well as his stylistic flexibility. Credits include work with Philip Glass, Nickelodeon, Damien Rice, SNL, Ars Nova Theater, Jónsi & Alex, and Toshi Reagon. Ongoing projects include vocal jazz group West Side 5, a cappella group Duwende, and indie band Secret Sibling.

Baritone, Eric Hughes

Eric is a veteran of jazz a cappella, and is a founding member of West Side 5. A classically-trained pianist with a Music degree from Harvard, he pursued a passion for jazz vocal harmony and arranging in multiple a cappella groups in college, where he performed with Bobby McFerrin. He went on to study with Peter Eldridge (of the New York Voices), and in 2009 formed West Side 5 with a group of college friends. He is a frequent guest at a cappella festivals, as both a teacher and adjudicator.

Bass, Dylan Pramuk

A versatile baritone, improviser, arranger and educator, Dylan has performed at many of NYC’s finest jazz venues, including The Jazz Standard, The Blue Note, and Birdland. The New York Times has hailed his “killer scat singing.” With vocalists Amy London, Holli Ross and Pete McGuinness, Dylan is one fourth of the Royal Bopsters, the jazz vocal quartet whose debut album, The Royal Bopsters Project was released to international acclaim on Motema in 2015, featuring jazz vocal heroes Jon Hendricks, Annie Ross, Bob Dorough, Sheila Jordan and the late, great Mark Murphy. In addition to private instruction, Dylan has developed an ongoing course in vocal improvisation entitled Hearing & Singing the Changes and, since January 2014, has been co-director with Amy London of the Jazz House Kids Vocal Academy in Montclair, New Jersey.